Yuvakalavahini is presenting the Pride Of Indian Cinema Award for the year 2007 to Gnana Kalabharathi and Padmasri Dr. K Balachander, on 6th April, at the Ravindra Bharathi auditorium. On this occasion, a music nite called Bala Chander Cine Geetavali will be presented by Hyderabad's singers V A Lakshmi, Amani, V K Durga, Venkat Rao and Subash.

Writer, director and producer of more than 90 films in Tamil, Telugu, Kannada and Hindi, Dr. K Balachander is an artist with a message. Starting as an amateur dramatist and rising to become a legendary producer-director, Balachander has crossed several milestones. He got his break in films as a scriptwriter for Deivathai (1964), and made his directorial debut in 1965 with Neerkumizhi, which was based on one of his plays; after that, he never looked back.

Dr. Balachander has the uncanny ability to spot talent, and is credited with discovering and introducing Padmasri Kamal Haasan, Rajinikanth, Prakash Raj, Sujatha and many other established actors to the Tamil industry. He received the Padmasri award in 1987 from the Indian Government in recognition of his contribution to the arts.

The chief guest for the function is Dr. Dasari Narayana Rao, Union Minister and cine director. The other dignitaries for the evening are Chairman of A P Film Chamber Of Commerce Sahajakavi Dr. Mallamala, Chairman of the Award Committee Saripalli Kondala Rao, directors Thammareddy Bharadwaj and Krishna Vamsi, and a galaxy of film stars, including Jayaprada, Jayasudha, Ramya Krishna, Brahmanandam, Kota Srinivas Rao, Sarath Babu, Jeeva and Sudha.

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